Monday, October 28, 2013

5 Steps to Writing a Killer Book Description

I love to repost blog pieces that resonate with me. They're worth another look! With National Novel Writing Month about to descend on the writing community, I thought this piece might be useful for those already thinking about how to describe their WIP. Enjoy this great post from Clive West!---Mary AnnWhen I put our first few books up for publication, I admit
that I was totally befuddled by all the boxes and fields that I had to
complete. I'll also freely admit that I was glad when I finally got to the last
one and was in the enviable position of being able to click the sirenius
'Submit' button. I was so relieved when I saw the books become available -
that's it, I told myself.

But, of course, it's
not so.

Your book may seem like the best thing since sliced bread ...

There are thousands of new books being uploaded every day
and each will sink or swim depending upon a number of factors, only one of
which being the relative merit of the material. Putting it plainly, if you
don't do the absolute best that you can for each of your offerings, your books will
plumb the oceanic depths, providing reading material for only those condemned
to an eternity in Davy Jones' Locker.Having spent many years being in charge of marketing and
recruitment for an employment agency and also having written a book on taking
charge of your job interviews, I decided to put my knowledge and experience
into producing a simple five-step process for writing a killer 'product
description' involving a similar system to that which I've successfully used to
land jobs for both myself and others.

This is an all-purpose solution which you can apply to just
about any book you care to mention.

Tagline

This is one line which stands alone and it needs to capture
both the essence of the book and the imagination of the reader. Movie companies
have been wise to this for years with such memorable quotes as:

Alien:
"In space no-one can hear you scream"

ET:
"He is afraid. He is totally alone. He is 3 million light years from
home."

Titanic:
"Collide with destiny"

The
Addams Family: "Weird is relative"

A
Fish Called Wanda: "A tale of murder, lust, greed, revenge, and
seafood."

That's a fairly eclectic bunch - hopefully it should give
you some good ideas.

What's the book
about?

Remember those long-forgotten days when buying something new
to read meant letting your eyes meander along the crammed shelves of a
bookstore? If you didn't have a specific title or author in mind, what was your
buying process? I’m guessing that it was to spot the cover and then read the
blurb, wasn't it? Only after that had appealed to you did you look at page one.
Therefore, the 'Look Within' feature is not going to be engaged by your readers
if your blurb doesn't strike home. This means that you need to write a brief
and enticing summary of what the book's about without resorting to:

Hyperbole

Bragging

Lying

Giving
the plot away

Something specific
about the book

You've probably covered the majority of it in the previous
element but here you need to come up with something which your book has that
others might not have such as its setting, protagonists, time period, adherence
to fact etc. It's important that you create a uniqueness about your writing but
without making it sound too far removed from the mainstream.

Why would someone
want it?

Put yourself in the shoes of the potential buyer - why would
they want your particular book? Here's where you get to use words such as
'powerful', 'gripping', 'captivating', 'charming', 'romantic' etc. Don't
over-egg the pudding - keep it brief and limit it to just one sentence if you
can. Less is more as they say.

A call to action

The final part of your winning description is to include
some instruction to the reader to make the purchase. This needs to be subtle
but no too subtle. For example, things like 'Buy it now' are best reserved for
auctions. Far better is something such as:

On
offer this month for a reduced price

Buy
a copy and get a free sneak preview of ...

For
a short time only, free e-autograph and dedication

Register
your copy and get entered into a prize draw

Etc

The psychology for dealing with readers when writing a
description is this.

Pique
their interest.

Reassure
them that they're on the right track with your book.

Focus
them on your book

Make
them see why they want THIS book

Get
them to go and buy it!

... which is why the order you put the elements in is
significant.

Happy selling.

Clive West has written 4 books as well as being a director of publishing company, Any Subject Books. Before that he ran an employment agency for professional workers and, based on his many years of experience, he has written a book about taking charge of your job interviews called Job Interview Success - How To Get Hired.